


do cecaelias have 8 legs or 10 arms

by aglowSycophant



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Cecaelias, F/F, Language Barrier, cecaelia 8, human 3, theres a little bit of magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 07:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19058116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aglowSycophant/pseuds/aglowSycophant
Summary: Once a month, she rises from the sea. Three thinks she’s stunning beneath the glow of the full moon, but her beauty is nothing compared to her song. Three doesn’t know the words she sings, not the language, the meaning, nothing, but Three finds the tune unforgettable, and she finds herself humming it as she works, calling out to her in dreams. More and more do her thoughts revolve around the Denizen. Maybe that's why her family warned of them, maybe their beauty is what makes them dangerous. Three doesn't care. If she sneaks to the shore, waiting behind rocks in the large cave systems beneath the cliff’s edge, hiding so she may hear her songs once more, then so be it.(or, "Three helps a fish lady learn an entire language because she's gay.")





	do cecaelias have 8 legs or 10 arms

**Author's Note:**

> i dont want to ramble too much, but the language that 8 speaks is (to my knowledge) not an actual language. its sort of something i slapped together at 4am instead of like, sleeping. ive translated all of it in the end notes, and i will for future chapters (if this is something i choose to continue) as well. i didnt want to just google translate latin since... thats boring.

She is a Denizen of the Deep, the kind of creature her mother and her mother’s mother and that mother’s mother warned of for years. Still, Three finds her beautiful, from her toned frame to her unnaturally scarlet hair to the mass of tentacles she has instead of legs.

Once a month, she rises from the sea. Three thinks she’s stunning beneath the glow of the full moon, but her beauty is nothing compared to her song. Three doesn’t know the words she sings, not the language, the meaning, nothing, but Three finds the tune unforgettable, and she finds herself humming it as she works, calling out to her in dreams. More and more do her thoughts revolve around the Denizen. Maybe that's why her family warned of them, maybe their beauty is what makes them dangerous. Three doesn't care. If she sneaks to the shore, waiting behind rocks in the large cave systems beneath the cliff’s edge, hiding so she may hear her songs once more, then so be it.

It doesn’t hurt anyone, after all.

It happens on a cool November night. The Denizen rises from the water. Three ducks behind a rock and presses herself against one of the cave's walls. The waves rolling against the sand make nice background noise as the Denizen begins her song. It’s familiar, even without meaning, and Three soon finds herself closing her eyes and simply losing herself in it.

Subconsciously, Three finds herself quietly, quietly singing along.

The Denizen hears.

Of _course_ she does.

Her song stops abruptly, and Three has to bite back a swear. Maybe if she stays still and holds her breath, the Denizen will just... Assume she heard something, and leave, or sing again, or-

"... Alkva," the Denizen says curtly. Three jumps and hits her head against the wall. "Chaseo ko senavos ya ojoe, kaa- Ja ra eska kav?" 

Three rubs at the sore spot on her head as she thinks of words to say.  _"Yeah, I was creeping on you for the past, like, five months, no biggie,_ " probably wouldn't be the best thing to say. Apologizing would probably also be weird... "Alkvaaa..? Va, ja re cerebros a morem? Musejem, ja ta mase naj ko sanguinos..?"

"Um," Three says eloquently. "Hi."

The Denizen seems to almost jump out of her skin in surprise. "Laah, ta ne-phobe naj!!" she whines.

"... Sorry?" she mumbles. Fuck, she really hit her head hard...

"Quasa, quasa naj!! Venajos, tam musejem..." She glares at Three, and then sighs. "... Jasan, tam alluos, resan a sanguinos, n... Ne-nure, lah- Blana mam, ra tos a wasnos ne-undem..." Blushing, she presses her hands to her face briefly and lets out a quiet noise that Three doesn't think is a word. It's a bit disconcerting, seeing someone blush blue, but... Her glare returns, now even sharper, and she barks, "Sanguinos!"

"I. Um. Hi." Three gives her a small wave. Shiiiiiiit, she's probably pissed...

"Ja ko codos ta?" she asks.

"... What?"

The Denizen groans and rolls her eyes. This is probably when she's going to snap and kill Three and tear her limb-from-limb or whatever they do, and then there won't even be a body left for her family to mourn over, and... "Laaa, name? Name of you?"

... That's much simpler than being killed.

“It's, um... It's Three,” she says, pointing at herself. “Three.”

The Denizen gives her an odd look and then it clicks, and she slowly repeats, “Tree?”

“Three,” she corrects.

“S... Sree,” the Denizen mumbles. “Sr.. Three..?” Three smiles and nods. “Three,” she says once more, pointing at Three with a clawed finger. She turns it toward herself, and says, “Hæght.”

“Hate?” Three tries. She shakes her head no.

“H _æ_ ght.”

“Eight?”

“ _H_ æght.”

“Hate..?”

“Lah, blana mam...” she mutters, shaking her head. With a soft sigh, she replies, “Eight.”

“Sorry,” Three mumbles. She shifts against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest. “You... Why do you come here?”

Eight gives her a blank stare. Three has to admit, her eyes are very... Pretty. They’re a bright orange, glowing in the darkness, with rectangular pupils. “Say... Again..?” she asks quietly, cocking her head to the side. Eight sinks down on the ground, her tentacles curling around herself.

“Um... You come here,” Three states slowly, pointing at Eight and then gesturing towards the general area. “Why?”

“Non-understand,” Eight grumbles after a long pause. “Bablar a sanguinos ne-undem...”

“You, uh...” She points at Eight, and then moves it so it’s facing the ocean. “Beach. Why?”

It finally clicks and Eight’s eyes widen.

“Laaaaa...” Her voice trails off. “Reo soluas kav, hafe? Laa, ne-quasa bavan chrolonas a frenar, ro mam, laa, ja undi..? Kasnei ka conas, ja quasa? Kaas, laa, ne-ro ne-alluos, ro, laaaaa... Ne- _ne_ -alluos tam, jasan ri sanguinos, ka... Blana mam, naj..!”

Three blinks. “What..?”

Eight seems to suddenly remember the fact that Three has no fucking idea what she’s saying, because she just blushes more. “A-Ah, la... Sahrey,” she mutters. “Sore... Sore-ey?” Eight quietly repeats the word beneath her breath, trying to figure out the pronunciation. Three gingerly lays a hand on one of her legs and she jumps.

“It’s, um... It’s okay.” She tries her best to smile. “Try again?”

“... Here is, laa... Non-loud,” Eight mumbles. “Non-hot.”

Three laughs softly. Eight cocks an eyebrow. “Mess up?” she asks.

“No,” Three replies. “That’s... Also why I came.”

It takes Eight a moment to translate what Three said, but she smiles at her once she does. “You... Speaking. Can, laa... Teach I?” Grabbing the ends of one of her legs, she nervously tugs at it as she pauses to find the words. “Can... Teach too. Atramentonias.”

Three thinks about it. On one hand, teaching someone an entire language might be, uh... A little difficult. On the other hand, Eight is... Very, very pretty, and Three’s still interested in trying to get to know her...

“Okay,” she ultimately agrees, and Eight’s face lights up with a smile that shows all her teeth. “What do you want to know?”

Eight’s quiet for a bit as she thinks. She searches the cave floor a little, soon finding a small rock. “It?”

“Rock.” Well, it could almost qualify for a pebble, but... “Say it?”

“Rack?” Eight tries.

Three shakes her head ‘no.’ “Rock,” she says once more. “Awk.”

“R... Rock,” she mumbles, looking at Three for approval. When she nods, Eight smiles and says it again.

Three taps at it in Eight’s hand. “How do you say it?”

“Sarusos,” Eight says. Catching Three’s bewildered expression, she repeats it, but slowly. “Sa-ru-sos.”

“Sayrusos?”

“Clamo chimas a ‘ah,’” she corrects. “S- _ah_ -rusos.”

“Sar- Sarusos?” Eight nods. “Salusos?” Apparently Three fucked up because Eight bursts into laughter.

“Ne-quasa, ne-quasa...”

“So... Sarusos?” Stifling another giggle, Eight nods. “Nice.”

She scrapes together a handful of sand off the cave’s floor, holding it out towards Three. “And it?”

“Sand,” Three tells her. Eight repeats it with a shrug, not having any difficulty. “You?”

“Tos a houzou,” she replies. “Tos a hou-zou.”

“T... Toes a hoh-zoh?” That’s such a long word... “Repeat?” she requests with a small turning motion of her hand.

“Chimas ne-dimim kav naj,” Eight chides. “Clamo chimas a ‘o,’ clamo ka, laa... Ocean.”

“That’s what I _said,"_ Three mutters. Eight laughs. “Toes a hoh-zoh?”

“Wasan ‘zoh’ clamo chimas a ‘o.’ Tos a hou _zou_.”

Three rolls her eyes. “Toes a hou-zou?”

“Tos, tos!”

“Tos-a-hou-zou?” Eight nods. “Tos... A houzou..?”

“Laaa, pusa ‘a’ naj,” she mumbles. Three glares at her. “Quasa, quasa, ro eskim kav... Ne-quasa ro _eskim,_ kaas...” She giggles. “Ne-ne-quasa, resan a sanguinos.”

She’s sure it’s _some_ kind of backhanded compliment, but Three will gladly take it at this point. She’s about to ask Eight what else she wants to know when Eight’s fingers light up orange and the sand in her hands lights up in the same hue. She lets go of it and it suddenly floats, and then she moves her hands a little bit closer together and the sand mushes itself into a ball. It clatters to the ground, and Three quietly gasps when she realizes what it is.

“Houzou,” Eight says, picking up the pearl and placing it in Three’s hand. “Ka receivas resan a tam.”

“Oh, um... Thank you,” Three says quietly, turning it around in her fingers. It’s fairly large, and it has a faint sheen to it. Pearls like these are _incredibly_ hard to come by, after all, and Eight just... Made one? “It’s pretty,” she tells Eight. When Eight smiles, Three feels her face warm.

“How say?” Eight asks, cocking her head to the side.

“Pearl.” Eight hums softly and nods.

“Pearr..?” She furrows her brow and shakes her head. “Peall... Lah, kos sanguinos roi bablar a ne-undem naj. Aru van alu, ne-undem naj!”

Three laughs softly at her frustration. Eight gives her a dirty look. "Pearl."

"Pah- Pahrul..?"

"It's an 'er' sound," she corrects. Eight rolls her eyes and mutters a series of syllables Three doesn't even want to  _try_ to pronounce.

"Per-rul?" she tries again. Three thinks about it for a moment and then nods. Eight sighs. "Ne-undem naj... Hasno sylaros kono, hasno sylaros kosa, kono van kosa van musejem, mam jako rar holem..."

The orange marks on Eight's skin glow bright as she continues muttering beneath her breath. "Sorry?" Three offers.

Eight nods. "Quasa, tam ra."

They continue on like that for a bit, pointing out small objects here and there. Both of them fumble over the words, and Eight lets out a quiet string of what are (probably) curses when Three fails to pronounce 'chavanas' for the fourth time.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Three doesn't know the time, beyond the fact that it's far past 12:00. She quietly tells Eight that she has to be back before anyone realizes she's gone.

"Kah... You, laaa... You come back?" she asks. "Moon, next moon?"

"Yeah," Three tells her with a nod. "Promise."

Eight takes her hand and gently rubs it against her cheek. "Ne-alkva," she says softly. "Oji o ka tralas a sacoronos."

"Bye, Eight," Three mumbles, slowly standing up once Eight releases her hand. "I'll see you."

"Bye," Eight almost whispers as Three walks away, clutching the pearl in her left hand.

(When she wakes up the next morning, Three isn't sure if it was a dream. When she checks her left pocket and finds the pearl, she laughs to herself. "What happened?" Four asks, and Three shakes her head and tells her to just forget it.)

**Author's Note:**

> (note: 'laa' is a thinking word, much like 'uh' or 'um' in english)  
> "... Alkva." --> "... Hello."  
> "Re ko senavos ya ojoe, kaa- Ja ra eska kav?" --> "I had a feeling I was being watched, bu- Are you okay?"  
> "Alkvaaa..? Va, ja re cerebros a morem? Musejem, ja ta mase naj..?" --> "Hellooo..? Hey, are you brain dead? Fuck, did I kill you..?"  
> "Laah, ta ne-phobe naj!!" --> "Aah, don't scare me like that!!" (lit. trans: "Ah, you don't scare me so!!")  
> "Quasa, quasa naj!! Venajos, tam musejem..." --> "Yes, good! Jerk, fuck you..."  
> "... Jasan, tam alluos kav, resan a sanguinos, n... Ne-nure, lah- Blana mam, ra tos a wasnos ne-undem..." --> "... Although, you're kinda cute, for a human, n... Not that I care, ugh- Forget it, you stupid piece of shit."  
> “Bablar a sanguinos ne-undem...” --> "Human language is stupid..." (literally "talk of humans (is) un-smart")  
> “Reo soluas kav, hafe? Laa, ne-quasa bavan chrolonas a frenar, ro mam, laa, ja undi..? Kasnei kas conascha, ja quasa? Kaas, laa, ne-ro ne-alluos tam, ro, laaaaa... Ne- _ne_ -alluos tam, jasan ri sanguinos, kaas... Blana mam, naj..!” --> "I was lonely, I guess? Umm, not because it's that time of year, it's just, ahh, you know? We all want some friends, right? Um, it's not that you're not attractive, it's, uhhhh... You're not _not_ pretty, for a human, but... Just forget it..!"  
> "Clamo chimas a 'ah.'" --> "It makes an 'ah' sound."  
> “Ne-quasa, ne-quasa...” --> "Not that, not that..." (lit. trans: "Not yes, not yes...")  
> “Ka chimas ne-dimim kav naj,” Eight chides. “Clamo chimas a ‘o,’ clamo ka, laa... Ocean.” --> "The sound is a little softer. It makes an 'o' sound, like, uh... Ocean." (lit. trans: "The sound is non-hard a bit more.")  
> “Wasan ‘zoh’ clamo chimas a ‘o.'” --> "'Zoh' also makes an 'o' sound."  
> “Laaa, pusa ‘a’ naj. Quasa, quasa, ro eskim kav... Ne-quasa ro eskim, kaas... Ne-ne-quasa, resan a sanguinos.” --> "Laaa, you stress the 'a' too much. Fine, fine, it's okay. Not great, but... Not bad, for a human."  
> “Ka receivas resan a tam.” --> "It's a gift for you."  
> "Lah, kos sanguinos roi bablar a ne-undem naj. Aru van alu, ne-undem naj!” --> "Ugh, human language is very stupid. 'R' and 'L," so dumb!"  
> "Quasa, tam ra." --> "Yes, you should be."  
> "Ne-undem naj... Hasno sylaros kono, hasno sylaros kosa, kono van kosa van musejem, mam jako rar holem..." --> "So very stupid... It has two syllables, it has one syllable, two and one and fuck, damn it all..."
> 
> "Ne-alkva. Oji tam o ka tralas a sacoronos." --> "Bye. I'll be thinking of you." (lit trans. "Not-hello. I'll see you in the rays of the sun.")


End file.
